The U.S. auto industry ended October with way more treats than tricks as many makers enjoyed best-ever Octobers as trucks and SUVs flew off dealer lots joined by plenty of luxury vehicles although one brand did take a hit: BMW.

The Bavarian maker is locked in a battle with Lexus and Mercedes for luxury vehicle sales superiority in the U.S. and last month didn’t help its cause as sales fell 3.8% in October. The brand’s utility vehicle held up their end of the bargain, posting a 56.7% gain, but car sales offset those gains.

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“Trends in the luxury vehicle market are becoming more evident with the October sales another indicator of how important Sports Activity Vehicles are becoming to our market segment,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America. (more…)

Mercedes is the "defending sales champ" in the U.S. market, and it appears it will retain the title this year.

It is still too early to break out the champagne but it looks as if Mercedes-Benz will capture the luxury sales crown for 2014, beating out runner up BMW, the likely runner up, for the second year in row.

Mercedes-Benz recorded a modest 1.6% sales increase in November, beating out archrival BMW, which saw sales drop nearly 1%. The November numbers left Mercedes-Benz with a commanding lead of more than 20,000 units going into the final month of the year.

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Toyota’s Lexus division had its best November ever as it set a sales record, but has sold just 271,000 vehicles so far this year and is unlikely to overtake its German rivals even though it expects to sell more than 300,000 units. Audi increased its sales for the 47th month in row and has already set an all-time yearly sales record. (more…)

BMW is holding a slim lead over rival Mercedes-Benz in the U.S. luxury market.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz are locked in a battle royal for the sales crown in the prosperous market for luxury cars in the U.S. BMW held the title for the two previous years, but one of the two has been the leader since 2011: the last year Lexus held the crown.

“One of the noteworthy facts in the October U.S. new vehicle sales results is that BMW now leads its archrival Mercedes-Benz by just 5,389 sales through the first ten months of this year,” IHS Automotive Analyst Tom Libby said.

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“With such a small gap in sales through 10 months, the two makes will most likely use marketing tools extensively through the end of the year, including numerous types of incentives, to gain an edge.” (more…)

With products like the new Audi A1, the German automaker hopes to maintain its lead in the global luxury sales sweepstakes.

As it expands its lead as the world’s largest auto market, China is changing not just the rules but realigning the pecking order of the global auto industry.

For the first time, this past quarter, Mercedes-Benz saw itself slip into second place on the global luxury sales charts, behind upstart Audi, the Volkswagen AG subsidiary that has become the dominant high-line player on the Chinese scene.

But despite decades of struggle, Audi continues trying to reposition itself as a leader, rather than an also-ran in the U.S., now the globe’s second-largest auto market. And company officials say they may be in for some gains – if they can just get the factory to provide American dealers with more product.

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For the first three months of 2010, it seems, Audi hit a record 264,100 vehicles worldwide, compared with just 248,500 for Daimler AG’s Mercedes brand. If the Volkswagen subsidiary can maintain that momentum it could exceed its five-year goal of becoming the world’s largest luxury brand. The original target was 2015, when Audi had hoped to boost sales to a whopping 1.5 million units annually.